In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown talks to reporters before attending a private funding raising event in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. After spending much of the summer absent from the campaign trail, Brown will be the featured guest Wednesday night at a $20-a-person public fundraiser hosted by the Sonoma County Democratic Party in Santa Rosa.

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Democratic...

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FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2010 file photo, former President Bill Clinton, left, appears at a rally in support of first-term Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon, in the Staten Island borough of New York. Comedy Central says former President Bill Clinton will visit "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Photo: Diane Bondareff, AP

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2010 file photo, former President Bill...

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Former President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally for Ohio Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, in Cleveland. Clinton said Strickland has created an award-winning economic development program for Ohio and should be re-elected.

Photo: Tony Dejak, AP

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally for Ohio Democratic...

Former President Bill Clintonhad a very simple - and personal - reason Tuesday to forgive and endorse his longtime Democratic adversary Jerry Brown.

It was in both their interests.

According to interviews with Democratic insiders, when the video of gubernatorial candidate Brown's jab at Clinton's lying about Monica Lewinsky went viral, cable news shows besieged Democratic officeholders from here to Washington, D.C., fishing for comment on what looked like the best food fight of the season.

One CNN memo framed the story this way: "Jerry Brown vs. Bill Clinton ... Meg Whitman reignites the decades-old battle between Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown by running an ad using an interview (from a debate) Clinton did in 1992. Jerry Brown isn't happy about the ad and decides to take a new swipe at Clinton by saying he 'did not have taxes with this state.' "

It was the last thing anxious Democratic officeholders wanted to talk about. It was also the last thing Clinton wanted on the airwaves as he hit the campaign trail for the party.

As one party operative who was fielding calls put it: "This thing had the potential to have more legs on the chattering circuit than a centipede, and the Clintons are very brand-conscious."

Silence would have served only to heighten attention on the Whitman ad that started the fuss - the one where then-presidential candidate Clinton blasted Brown in 1992 for raising taxes while governor of California.

Brown made the first move by quickly apologizing Monday for his "did not have taxes" crack from the day before.

Clinton, being the master political chessman that he is, looked over the board and figured that the best way both to end the chatter and take the sting out of Whitman's tax ad would be to endorse Brown ASAP.

And that's what happened.

Breaking ranks: Stalwart Democrat and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brownhas broken with his longtime union supporters and is backing Public Defender Jeff Adachi'shotly fought pension-reform measure for city workers.

The November measure would require city employees to pay 10 percent of their salaries toward their pensions and double the charge for health care coverage for their dependents.

"These workers walked precincts for him when he was mayor, and now he's banging them over the head," Delagnes said. "But Willie has always been for sale."

"They're wrong,"' said an unapologetic Brown. "This isn't anti-labor. This is just an effort to get some intelligence into the pension system because we public officials have screwed up."

Darcy Brown (no relation to Willie), the Prop. B consultant who is setting up the lunch, admitted that raising money for the measure had been hard, thanks in large part to union opposition.

The only other event the measure's backers have held was at the home of multimillionaire Michael Moritzback in August, when five busloads of union protesters showed up, equipped with a noisy bullhorn.

City workers have pledged to spend more than $1 million to defeat the initiative, and are making opposition to it a requirement for any candidate seeking labor's endorsement.

So far, only one other big name on the left has joined Brown and Adachi in breaking with labor - Brown's onetime progressive nemesis, former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez.

As for react here at The Chronicle, where Brown has a weekly column in the news pages?

"When we gave him a column, we never had any illusion he would cease to be involved in politics," said Chronicle Managing Editor Steve Proctor. "I think the readers of The Chronicle understand that."

Check it out: Michael Peevey, president of the state Public Utilities Commission, is calling for an independent review of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s pipeline operation in the wake of last week's San Bruno tragedy.

Peevey wants a panel of five experts - outside of both PG&E and the PUC - to look at everything from the condition of the company's 5,700 miles of major gas lines to how PG&E manages them.

The call for an independent review got two thumbs up from Mindy Spatt of The Utility Reform Network.

"Consumers have lost faith in the PUC, which should have been keeping an eye on this all along," she said.